Chicago



H. S. HART.

DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 21, m19.

n HR s. HART. DOOR OPERAHNG MECHANISWI.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 21,1919.

Patented. Oct. 14, 1919.

3 SHEES-SHEET 2.

JE@ @al fiar@ @Hafz A @y Qfvmw wwf?? H. S. HART.

-nooR GPERATING MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILE!)v FEVE. ZI i919.

LSISAML Patented oen-14,1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

OFFICE.

HARRY'S. lirnierj'or CHICAGO, ILLINos, Ass'IGNon' To NATIONAL DUMP CAR co., or

p 'CHICAGQ ILLINOIS, ACORPORA'IION OF'MAINE.

" Doon-oPEmvrINGV MCHANISM.'

To all 'wtom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY S.` HART, a citi zen of the United St-etes, residing 'at Chicago, iirtlieeounty-of Cook and State-of Illinois, have invented `certain new and use.- ul Improvements in Door-perating Mechanism, of which theollowing isa specification. A This invention relates to door operating iiieehaiiisni particular] y in connectionwith general service .cars f v 1 The objects of the invent-ion are to provide a simple and eliicient door .operating mechanism.ivhich positive fin its action,

so arranged that, no straiiilis 'placed' upon l tlie'mecl'ianism tending-fte distort it,f. thu's minimizing repairs; -to provide a device which can be easily operated bythe class of lever usually employed for such purpose; and to provide an operating device solarranged as .to increase the eilicien'cvof the car in unloading. v l General servicel cars, as. iswell known,

have their, ilat hot-toms composed largelyoffrom gwhiehthe dumpable lad-` drop doorsl ing is discharged. It has been customaryin the past to provide ,operating mechanisms for these doors, by means of which a plurality' of the doors can be closed and opened simultaneously. The classes of .operating mechanisms, generally speaking, are of two,

kinds, 'those which employ aWiiidingshaft connected -hychains or flexible elements to theAI doors, and those. in which the shaft plaeedheneath -tliedooi's operates directly to raise the samet The first class of device is open to the objection that, owing to the .weigl'it ofthe doors, the chains or fiexibleA the shaft` elementsconnecting .the doois' to are apt to stretch or kink unequallyso that some ofthe doors may net be -fully closed.,l

making it impossiblev toltransfer the. load from thel chain to theshaft 'through suitable devices usually employed. Cars having these chainand shaft operated doors are open to the further objection that the rhans are inv 'the path of the outcomlng L loadasl it is d iscliargethtlius hindering the free flolvvond class, 'that-is, tho

as the direct'l bperatii 'n ,member or. the

doors, while fi'eefroiii y the .last-named ob- Jeetion are apt to becomev defective because of the car by erlesene/ efsllaft.

speeicafcmofmeefs raient. Patented oet. i4, 1919. f1 Apiicatipniiiea February ai, i919. serial No. 278,408.

extend approximately one-halfv the length of "the carandare 'operated from the end rolling the shaft hack and forth beneath the doors. The shaft ends farthest-from the ends of the car, owing to the torsional strain uponthe shaft, will sometimes become distorted so that certain of* =tlie doors will not be fullyclosed. This is especially true if small amounts of materialcfarel left jupon' the -doors, requiring the exemise'of unusual' effort to' compel the shaft'fto move into fully 'c'losedposition -rlvIys new door operating mechanism dis- "closed 'in'vthis' application overcomes the objections-to both types of mechanism, therel being nochains to interfere with the load or,.-.becomestretched, and there being no lstrain imposed upon the -sliaftiin movingit underthe. doors to support them.v `he c losiiigfof. the `doors by liietingeach door singly-can lie-done With `less eiiort, and prob# 'ablyvmfless time, than a'coinplete section canbe raised by theold devices, while the dropping-ofthe doorsl in .sections takes place -as formerly.

'Another' advantage oi lifting .the doors singly. is that the operator sees any objects of material which. may be left'on the door orunderframe requiring cleaning olf. When the doors yare raised from the' end ofv the car- 4as is *now commonly done, itis not ah4 ways possible to notice these tlriiigs,.tlie result vbeing that. attempts are .frequently made to close the doors when particles of roal are-interposed between the 'edge of the door :iiild tlieadjavent underframe member, thus puttingj a greatfstrain upon the operating.l .mechanism in attei-uptiingr to forcethe doors into fullyjclos'ed position.,-

The invention, is illustrated' on the aecomlpanying sheets'of drawings, in Which-` f vliligure 1. is a; fragmentary side elevation of, .it-general Service lcar l embodyinp; my invention. l C -I i Fig. 2- is .a transverse vsectional -w'iew of the samocar showing .ithe -door operating meci-ianism in variouspositions. "'l*`ig.,3f is a ldetailvfiem; parts being in Showing partsof myfimproved door.

operating iiiech-aiiism .-oirav larger'. :scaleA Fig. skis: a:tragoneiitaryA bottom plan View ofa part of the idoor operating mecha.-

'nism; `and lFigf' .is-a fragmentary side elevation of a modifiedpform' or general service cnr enibodying Imy invention, it being noted that the sides of the car at the ends-thereof'are provided with side dump doors, bottom 'dump doors being provided throughout the 'remaining' part of the car.

- The various novel features of my invenit will be noted that I have shown a gen eral service car having sides 10, ends 11, and a oorrcomposed largely of dump'doors 12 which' are pivotally connected at their ,inner 'ends to the center sill structure'l, the framework of the' car including transverse supporting and strengthening meni- `bers 14 which are provided- With stop members 15 upon which thedump doors' 12 rest wlienin an open position.'

--rhis invention hasta do primariiy with the door operating'mechanism.' `Having in mind the disadvantages of door operating -devices heretofore employed,.`and tlie advan- A tages of this present door operating mechanism as hereinabove set forth, attention is called to the fact that each of the dump doors is raised from an open position into a closed position separately and independently of any other one of the doors. Secured to the bottom of each of the dump doors ,-12 is a bracket 16 having side walls -between which a rivet 17 extends, said rivet being received by an elongated slot 18 formed in one end of a door, operating member 19, whereby the door operating member may be moved in and out transversely with respect to the car, for reasons to be mentioned hereinafter.' It will 'be notedalso that the with of the slotted end of themember19 is con# siderably less than the distance between the side Walls of the bracket 16,'whereby the operating handle may have considerable side play, the purpose of which will be pointed out later.

Let. it be assumed that all 'of the dump doors 12 are in their open or lowered posi- I' tion as shown at the right hand side of Fig. e

2. It will be noted that the operating hand 19 upon each one of-these doors is in its outermost position, that is toA say, the rivet 17 .occupies the innermost end ofthe slot 18 in the control member 19, this being true asaV result of the action of gravity. Each of the doors 12 may be raised individually from its open position, as shown at the right hand side'. of Fig. 2, into closed positionv y exerting a lifting movement upon` the operating handle 19, and -When the door reaches its closed position in each case it may be latohed'v or held temporarily in said closed position. by moving the control handle 19 sidewise so -that its laterally extending projection or (i5-latch portion 20 passes over a receiving lip pointed out in the appendedl 21 formed at lthe bottom of eaohofa rality ofbrackets 22 secured tothe frame of the car. At this point, -attention is called to the fact that each of the control members -19 intermediate its ends is provided with an offset portion 23, having two cam surfaces 24 and l25 which cooperate with a loop inember 26 secured to the underside of'each door l2-'and .throu livwhich the control handle 19 extends. Re erring particularly to Figi 4, it is obvious that in order for the latch por'- tion 20 ofthe control handle -19 to overlie the` supporting lip 21, the control handlem-ust move or be moved outwardly, and 4insuch` I the opposite direction in order that the latch port-ion 20 of the handle `19 may overli'e the 12 in closed' position.

While it is desirable toi-aise each one of the dum doors individuallyand to litch each (of -t e dump doors temporarily an individually, as hereinabove set'forth," it isdesirable to lock a plurality of 'doors in a more permanent manner simultaneously and to supporting lip21 fof holding the .dump'door release a plurality of doorssimultaneously to permit the dump doors -to move into an open position-for dumping purposes.` To

-lock a plurality ofdoors simultaneously after the same' have been raised into closed position individually vand :latched temporarily and individually, I have provided an operating shaft 27 in each quarter ,of acar, the operating shaft yin each quarter -controlling all of the dump doors in its section.

When the dump Vdoors are inlopen position,`

the operating shaft 27 in e'ac'h case iopo ies outside ofthe path of movemntof 'said-doors asthey are moved into closed position. TheA shaftin' each case is moved into a door-,supporting position afterhthe doors arel raised into closed position, eachv operating shaft 27 having a lateral movement within inclined. slots 28 formed in the ramelinembersj 14,. each shaft being provided .withv suitable gears .29 meshingfwith'raek members-30 secured to the frame membersltattheslots 28. Each operating shaft 27 provided with an operating lever or handle 31, which is fixed to the shaft and through which'jthe shaft is rolled in under the doors 'b a continuous movement, as distinguished om the puming action of the vers eretofore used. v I'Jet lit be assumed that -all of the dump 'doors 12 have been raised into closed position and are' temporarily latched i'n closed position by. the latch portions 2 0 of the controlh'andles 19 overlying the supporting lips 21. Toloclr simultaneously, in amore per.

manent manner all of 'the' dump doors as-Wot'the car being provided with a floorA sociated with a single, shaft, the shaft 27 is given an inward amil up-tvar oljlingtfm'tivei men t by f'f 'raisin g the" operating-i f 'levfer''fSL During thel inivard "movement of* t :haft it1 engagesupstanding` yprojection formedon'each one' of `the hand-levers 19,*

.Ward 1 the longitudinal center of theV car,

Vwherebythfelatched portion'isg'moved of;

42o its' cooperating'loop member 26- for disen` gaging the latched portion'20 from the supporting lip 21. However, the control memher 19 may return in a lateral movement a predetermined amount after the peak of the cam portion or projection 23 is past.` i However, it will be noted that with thecontrol lever 19 in its innermost position when the rivet 17 occupies the'outer extremity of the slot 18, or, as a matter of fact, Whentheeon-- trol men-liner occupies anypositionexcepting lits actual latching position, vthe control member 19 is held outlof latchmg engagement with respect to the supporting lip 21 so that when the shaft 27 is givenan outward lateral movement all of the dump doors 12 in that section may be dumped sinniltanemisly. j

By means of this door operatin' mechanism cach ot' the dump doors may e raised pendently of any otlierdum i door, may bey temporarily latched in close position, then a plurality oi the dump doors locked 'simultaneously.in a more pernlanent manner,

the weight ot the load and doors being retpirements for successful commercial use.

The, arrangement shown in Fig. 5 is substantially the same as thatl shown in the other figures. ot' the drawings, with the exception, however,` that the sides of the. car at the ends thereof are provided with side dump doors 33 instead of bottom dump doors at such points, the remaining portion into a closed position individually-and inde- I lia vconsidered in 'tra h 'claims; 't

raam-f' a y a "f 1.;'Ina' '^general f service carini-fiile a phi-i ralityofv doors,' "mehns fo1 i"s ai\l "doors' to f' clos d po l and means c' 1" n1 n. to aphiiality t for holding them in "clo'sjed position; a In agenral'iservice.ca'r'havig a plus: 4rality of doors, means for, directly' l saiddoors' individually in a giv meansI-'coin'monA to ap'liuaht lot for holding them in'a given position. 3. Ina general service car having a pininventionv asV set/ for temporarily in closed position,` a movable door operatingv device, and means for releasing said temporary holding means when the movable door ,operating device is moved into a supporting'position.

4. In a-general service'car having a dump doorQmeans for locking said door, and other lockingv means. ,for said' door, capable of changing' the lockingeonnection ofthe irstmentioned locking means'. .5. In a general service 'ar 'having' a pivotally `n iounted door, means for locking said 'door in closed lposition, and otherl means for lockingsaid door in' Said position which is 'capable of'moving the 'first locking means into an unlocking position.

6.` In a general service, ca r having a movably 'mounted door. a .limiting memher earried thereby for looking; the door in one. position, and other lockinglf means Jfor said 'door capable ot'- moving the first .loi-king means into an unlockingposition.

7. In a'general service ear havingr a mova'hly mounted door, loekingwuieans carried thereby for cooperating to lock the door in closed position, and lockingr means for said door carried by a stationary part oi' thel ear and havin'gan unlorliimgr actionl upon the iirst-mentioned locking means.

8. InA a general servire car, a movahly -mounted door,'a 'lockinglateh' carried thereby coperating-tolock the door in closed-po sition, and a sliaftsumi'orted'hy a. stationary -part of the eax-'and' movable-into a position to support the door in elosedposition, the. locking latch at the same, time. beingf u'|o\'ed into an unlocking position.

S). In a general service/ear having a movalilymounted door, a, lockinglatch carried thereby and movable into locking and un# `locking; positions, and a shaft capable, of holding the door in closed position causing" rality of doors','1neans for holdingV the doors SiO 1 saidA latohto move from a locking to en unlocking position when the shaftV is moved 'into a supporting positiom 10. In a genera-1 serv1ce car having e mov- 'ably 'mounted door, a handle for raising seid dom` into closed poston,' said handle having a 'relative movement w1th respect -to 'said l door, whereby it may .be moved into a posi- `moved into 2li-:supporting position.

tion to lock and unlock the door, -and othei` door operating means operajble within the fra-me of the car for moving the handle from a. locking into an unlocking position to, said door being .manually elosed by movement of said Vl1e r\dl'e-and means whereby said door may be latohed end-unlatehed in closed Vostion by' movements of said handle.

12. n a general serviceear having a movably mounted door, a handle-mounted on said 4 dooi` and having relative sidewse und longi-l tudinal movements 4mt-h respect'v thereto,

said ldoor being I'n'enuellyl closed by movement of seid handle; -means whereby said door may be latchedand unlatohed n`elosed position by movements ofseid handle, end

other means' for lookngseid door' in closed position andwhieh inoves-thelhandle into en unlatehed position.

of Febrary, 1919. v

' HARRY. S. HART.

'l Signed at Chicago, Illinois this lth day 

